GE HealthCare and Interbrand unveil brand strategy behind GE’s first public spinoff
13th March 2023: GE HealthCare and global brand consultancy Interbrand have unveiled the brand strategy behind GE’s first spin-off, as the healthcare company reaches a total market cap of $35 billion after just two months of public trading on the Nasdaq.
The partnership saw GE HealthCare and Interbrand develop the company’s brand purpose and identity to create a standalone healthcare business, built around customer needs, patient outcomes and precision care, while retaining the 130-year equity of the iconic GE brand. GE HealthCare worked with Interbrand on a nine-month collaborative design and data-driven research process, which consisted of 20+ work streams including messaging, brand architecture, ESG, financial modeling, quantitative global research – looking at customer, investor, employee and stakeholder perceptions of the GE brand – and a global online feedback survey to engage its 50,000 employees.
Interbrand worked closely with GE HealthCare on several iterations of its final brand purpose statement: ‘To Create a World Where Healthcare Has No Limits,’ which drew on GE HealthCare’s engineering and innovator roots with the need to fix the industry’s biggest healthcare challenges.
The collaboration also saw GE HealthCare and Interbrand implement new design features, such as modern, open source typography, blending GE’s original blue and red logo colors to create ‘compassion purple,’ and capturing imagery that represents the humanity behind the brand rather than just machinery and technology.
Danielle Halstrom, GE HealthCare Chief Communications and Corporate Marketing Officer, said: “Coming out of the pandemic, the disconnected nature of the healthcare system has been laid bare and as leaders we have an obligation to drive toward solutions. Our goal was to shift GE’s identity from that of an industrial company to one that is uniquely healthcare – with people at the very heart.”
“The decision to separate the businesses marked a defining moment in the history of the iconic GE brand, and we needed the right partner to help lead us through this journey. Interbrand’s experience and expertise in the branding space is unrivaled and we are very proud of what we have achieved together.”
William Woduschegg, Executive Creative Director, Interbrand New York, said: “Since April 2022, Interbrand has worked closely with GE HealthCare to build an iconic healthcare brand that addresses the challenges of today’s healthcare industry, while maintaining its 130-year old heritage. Our role was to bring patients, humanity and compassionate care to the center of our brand purpose and identity work.
“We are proud to have been part of such a hugely successful spin-off and we look forward to continuing our work with GE.”
In July 2022, GE announced the planned separation of its portfolio of healthcare, energy and aviation businesses into three independent, industry-leading, investment-grade public companies, in partnership with Interbrand. And just six weeks before the spin-off of GE HealthCare, GE took over the New York Times in what was one of the most iconic communications campaigns to date. It was the first single advertiser takeover in the paper’s 171-year history and saw an entire print edition provide details and imagery on GE HealthCare, GE Aerospace and GE Vernova.
Following GE HealthCare, Interbrand is working on the brand strategy for the launch of GE Vernova, and GE Aerospace.
About Interbrand
Interbrand Group is made up of Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy, and C Space, the global customer agency.
Interbrand have been a world leading brand consultancy, for over 45 years – having pioneers iconic work and forged many of the brand building tools that are commonplace across the industry today.
We know that in an age of unprecedented abundance of choice and speed of innovation, customers’ expectations are moving faster than business. While incremental change is still essential, it is no longer sufficient. It takes bold moves to leap ahead of customers and competitors. We call these moves Iconic Moves.
In collaboration with the world’s leading brands, our global team of thinkers and makers are pioneering the future of brand building. By turning customers into active participants, we help our clients strengthen their brands on an ongoing basis – our approach gives them confidence to make Iconic Moves that spark desire and create utility, driving extraordinary results.
Interbrand is a part of the Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC)
About GE HealthCare Technologies Inc.
GE HealthCare is a leading global medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics, and digital solutions innovator, dedicated to providing integrated solutions, services, and data analytics to make hospitals more efficient, clinicians more effective, therapies more precise, and patients healthier and happier.
Serving patients and providers for more than 100 years, GE HealthCare is advancing personalized, connected, and compassionate care, while simplifying the patient’s journey across the care pathway. Together our Imaging, Ultrasound, Patient Care Solutions, and Pharmaceutical Diagnostics businesses help improve patient care from diagnosis, to therapy, to monitoring.
We are a $18.3 billion business with 50,000 employees working to create a world where healthcare has no limits.